John Madden calling it quits

Read here for more on Madden retiring. Over the years, people have either found Madden to be super annoying or interesting and fun. Earlier on in my football watching days, I was annoyed by John Madden. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate what he means to the game of football. I also found that if I listened carefully, he would have good insight from time to time – raising points that hadn’t occurred to me. I always had the distinct impression that John Madden was a friendly guy, which was something that contributed to my improved opinion of him. Maybe I just bought his on-air persona which was usually light and friendly, but after this many years, I’d think it would be hard to fake it game after game. So I’m a bit sad re this news. With Madden’s retirement, I think the NFL has lost a great ambassador today.

Interesting that the guy who will be replacing him has evolved for me anyway, in a similar way. Chris Collinsworth (and his voice in particular) used to bug me when he first started out. But after listening enough to him over the years, I have really grown to appreciate 2 things: 1) that he knows the game really, really well and 2) that he is one announcer who isn’t afraid to reverse his opinion on a call for example, after the replay shows something different (though he usually gets it right live).

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This entry was posted on April 16, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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8 Responses to “John Madden calling it quits”

Just read the article myself. Don’t think he’ll be Farving NBC by any means. A loss for all football fans. His insight & ability to explain on simple terms was unprecedented. I also like Aikman/Buck but refuse to watch any Monday night games with those PTI idiots (unless the Pack’s playing, of course).

I also agree on all points … and a special thanks to the football gods that it was (the approachable, likeable) Collinsworth and not the execrable, hateful stooge Olbermann. THAT would have been ghastly.

I’m really going to miss Madden and his “friendly” style, and I can’t think of a more appropriate replacement than Chris.

When I worked freelance field audio for Fox Sports, I had the opportunity to work a few games when John Madden was calling the game. First, when in Green Bay, John just had to make brats for the crew. The production manager would send a couple of guys to Kmart to pick up a grill and some charcol. John would make a shit load of brats. In the broadcast booth, John munched on peanuts. Bags and bags of them. Madden would crack jokes about Packer fans who danced to the YMCA song. He was not a fan of that song. Working with John was fun. He and Michaels really were the “A” crew.

I am happy that Collinsworth is going to new guy. I never really took to him when he was in studio but he calls a great game. He understands the XO’s and is able to talk about it from the perspective of a player without sounding like an arrogant ass. He is humble, yet calls players and coaches out if they do something stupid. I think hell pair up well with Michaels.

To anyone who is not excited about Collinsworth, just remember that it could have been Joe Theismann or Joe (I would rather watch the Bachelor than sports) Buck.